In a world of ever growing complexity, decision making has grown to be a tough job. From everyday decisions to those with great strategic and societal impact, knowledge and information are the currencies that have to be paid in large amounts to make rationally based decisions.

Since our knowledge grows exponentially in nearly every field of interest we often find a lack in the ability of decision makers to provide the information needed in breadth and depth to found their decisions on a solid basis.

This is where the scientific discipline of foresight comes in. Generating information on possible future developments with scientifically controlled methods to provide support for planning and decision making is one of its major tasks. A second aspect is the creation of pictures of alternative futures. Especially with respect to an increasingly accelerating dependency on technologies the need for a rationally based dialogue with the major social groups has grown dramatically. As a result, not only decision maker from politics and economics are in charge but any individual has to face great challenges.

By their technologically inspired profession, engineers take more influence on our social, economic and environmental circumstances than any other occupational group. For them, the knowledge of appropriate foresight methods grows more and more important.

Therefore, the Institute for Technology Analysis and Foresight offers a broad spectrum of methods and procedures to enable engineers to prepare or conduct planning and decision making in all relevant areas of their professional field.

Contact

LTVS - Institute for Technology Analysis and Foresight in the field of Security Research
Kackertstr. 9
52072 Aachen